Mad about Science: Strange birds

By Brenden Bobby
Reader Columnist

Birds are fairly odd creatures, but among the odd are the oddest — strange and wacky evolutions that perfectly suit their ecological niche while appearing alien and unusual to the human eye. Avians have had nearly a quarter of a billion years to evolve and do whatever it is they want to do, so they were bound to go off the rails at some point.  

Sword-Billed Hummingbird

Hummingbirds are unusual to begin with, wielding pointy proboscis-like beaks and freaky little alien tongues. They’re also one of the few birds that has the capability to hover like a helicopter by beating their wings extremely quickly in a figure-eight pattern. Their immense energy expenditure means they can never go for long without a high-calorie source of food — the sugar-rich nectar of flowers — and they have the ability to descend into a near-death state of hibernation when the temperature drops for the evening.

Swordbills are unique in that their bill can exceed the length of the rest of their body, excluding their tail which acts as a counterbalance to the massive bill. Native to the Andes Mountain range in South America, they are a non-migratory species, which stands in stark contrast to the hummingbird species we see around here during the summer including the rufous and calliope. Also unique to the swordbill is how it preens. Most birds use their beaks to preen to spread oil over their feathers and remove parasites, but this is impossible for the swordbill to do. Instead, it has to use its feet to preen. Imagine if you couldn’t use your hands to brush your teeth because your arms were too long, so instead you had to use your feet.

Vulturine guineafowl

Chances are, you’ve seen or heard a guineafowl if you’ve lived in Bonner County for a few years. Farm and feed stores will even stock guinea chicks during the spring for homesteaders to purchase. They’re already an odd bird, appearing as a poor man’s peacock, which makes sense as they belong to the same order: Galliformes. Included in this order are turkeys, quail and pheasant.

The vulturine guineafowl is a whole different beast with elaborate black, white and blue plumage and a bald vulture-like head that sports two crimson red eyes. They are native to central Africa similar to most other guineafowl. Strangely, vulturine guineafowl will run rather than fly when startled. Aspiring homesteaders can raise their own vulturine guineafowl for the low cost of $1,875 for a breeding pair.

Magnificent frigatebird

The magnificent frigatebird in flight near Galapagos, Ecuador. Courtesy photo

Attention-seeking is a key reproductive aspect of birds. It’s a bit of a gambit, as attention-seeking behaviors also lead to higher rates of predation. Standing at the edge of a jungle clearing and shouting: “Look at me! Look at how large and beautiful I am!” is a fantastic way to get eaten by a leopard.

The magnificent frigatebird has no such fear of leopards, as it inflates something called a gular sac attached to its chest. This is a skin cavity attached to the bird’s mandible, which it forces full of air to act like a balloon, expanding into a magnificent and horrifying red display to attract mates. This is relatively common in birds and is something that the common sage grouse will do while courting as well. What’s very unusual about the magnificent frigatebird is its behavior: bullying other birds into vomiting so that it may eat their regurgitation.

Kea

Kea are parrot-like birds from New Zealand. At first glance, there’s nothing particularly special about the Kea. It looks like a green and tan parrot with brown lacing on its feathers. Get a little too close to the Kea’s territory and its strangeness becomes startlingly apparent.

Kea are perhaps some of the most intelligent birds in existence, capable of solving logic puzzles to retrieve food. They are also extremely bold and known to attack backpackers and rummage through their belongings for food and shiny objects. They’re a bit of a pest to New Zealand’s farmers, going as far as attacking livestock as large as sheep, but they’re a protected species and there is very little that can be done about the annoying birds.

Hilariously, Kea chicks look a little bit like Muppets.

Long-wattled umbrellabird

Perhaps the most visually strange bird on this list is the long-wattled umbrellabird. This is a black bird endemic to the Pacific cloud forests of Colombia and Ecuador. It sports a pompadour-style crest that would make any greaser-wannabe jealous during Lost in the ’50s, and an unusual feathered wattle that hangs from its keel that can sometimes exceed the length of the bird’s body.

This bird’s mating patterns resemble that of human males in their 20s, gathering in large groups and awaiting a solitary female to select a preferred mate. This is called lek mating, in the event you want to mock a friend group for preening and moving like a flock of male birds.

After a female has laid and hatched an egg, she becomes the sole caregiver for the chick and will feed it bits and pieces of fruit and insects until it grows large enough to leave the nest.

Stay curious, 7B.